NOAH AND THE FLOOD. Genesis 7:1 24

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1 1 Dear Friend, this is a transcript of a sermon preached by Pastor Jeremy Tan from the pulpit of Amazing Grace Baptist Church Singapore. We are committed to expository preaching because we believe it is the most effective way to expose, explain and expound the Holy Scriptures. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27). Through careful systematic and sequential exposition, the preacher is able to declare unto you all the counsel of God (Acts 20:27), and Christians are blessed with a regular, well-balanced diet of God s Word. Expository preaching also helps us to have a high view of Scripture. We wish to extend a warm welcome to you to join us in our church services for a time of uplifting worship and helpful Bible study, which will bring rejoicing and refreshment to your soul. Do visit our church website at or write to us at amazingracebc@gmail.com. NOAH AND THE FLOOD Genesis 7:1 24 At this point in the book of Genesis, judgment from God is about to fall upon the earth. God had seen the great wickedness of the people on the earth, and He was grieved by their sins (Genesis 6:5-6). So God set the limit of His patience with the people at 120 years. God s long patience for people to repent was also the time for Noah to build the ark. In our study of Genesis 6, we compared the ark with some large vessels. We learned that the ark was larger than the biggest passenger aircraft to date, the Airbus A380; and it was just under half the length of the passenger ocean liner, the Titanic. Now let me give another comparison. On April , the replica of an 18 th century French frigate set sail from France for its final destination in the United States, Yorktown, Virginia. The transatlantic voyage was expected to take 27 days. This French tall ship, the Hermione (pronounced Hair-me-own) became historically famous because it sailed with General Lafayette to the American colonies to encourage the revolutionaries in their war with the British for independence. Made of oak, conifer, iron, lead, tar, oakum, and hemp, the original Hermione was built in about one year (built in March 1778 and launched in April 1779). However, work on the replica required almost 20 years, beginning in One reason for the long period of construction is that only 18 th century shipbuilding techniques were allowed (to keep it authentic). Still, some power tools were used. Let us compare the Hermione with the ark. Length-wise, the Hermione is 216 feet (66m) from flagpole to stern, whereas the ark was slightly more than twice as long. Many people and equipment were used to build the French frigate (both the original and the replica), but Noah only had his three sons, and their bare hands. The larger ark was completely handmade. Although a primitive vessel, the ark was a greater engineering feat than all the other vessels we have compared because of the limitations in skills, manpower, technology, tools, materials used, and so on.

2 2 Now we come to Genesis 7 and the wrath of God is at hand. Everything that God warned and promised is about to be fulfilled. We have only two main points for our outline of this chapter because we are covering large chunks of the text at a time. In Genesis 7:1-16, Moses gives a review and reiteration of what he covered in the previous chapter; even so, there are new details and important truths for us to learn. We begin with I. Filling the Ark. Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. For 120 years, God saw the righteousness of Noah. Unlike the great wickedness of the world, Noah stood alone with God. Noah was a committed believer who walked with God. He endured long years of abuse and threats of violence from the unbelievers. What about us? We will not live anywhere close to the longevity of Noah, and the days of our pilgrimage are far shorter, but will God see us as His righteous people in the far fewer days of our lives? In this first paragraph, Genesis 7:1-4, God is giving His final instructions to Noah. Genesis 7:2-3 2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. 3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. In Leviticus 11 we have the list of clean and unclean animals, but we will not be looking at the list. Let me just point out two animals that represent the two kinds: the lamb is a clean animal, whereas the pig is classified as unclean. Notice that the clean animals are to be taken into the ark by sevens. There are two views about the meaning of the sevens. One is that Noah took seven pairs into the ark, which means there are fourteen of each kind of clean animal. The other view of the sevens is that there are three pairs plus one. Both views are possible. If we interpret the sevens as three pairs plus one, then the extra animal would be the one that Noah sacrificed immediately to God after the Flood. Just as God reserved the seventh day for Himself, the seventh clean animal was reserved as the sacrifice unto Him. Many clean animals would be needed as sacrifices to God, hence the need for a greater number to be brought into the ark. Although God saved Noah and his family to preserve the seed of the woman, the sacrifices of clean animals were necessary because Noah and his family were sinners who would carry into the new world the sin of the old. (R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing, p. 138). For believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, sacrificial animals are not needed because the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:7). Christ and His sacrificial death on the cross is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2). To propitiate means to appease anger through the offering of a sacrifice. The sins of the Old Testament believers were covered by the blood of the animal sacrifices but with the death of Christ, all the sins of His people are cleansed by His blood. Christ offered Himself to God as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of His people when He died on the cross. By His sacrificial death, Christ became our propitiation that appeased the righteous wrath of God.

3 3 Next in the text, we note the repeated emphasis on the male and female pairing for all the animals, both the clean and the unclean (Genesis 7:2-3, 9, and 16). Notice also the male and female pairing for the human passengers. The passenger manifest in Genesis 7:13 are eight souls, male and female: Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives. The two genders are needed for reproduction and the repopulation of the earth. For the human race, God s plan for reproduction is through the sexual intimacy of the husband-and-wife relationship. We observe that God also commanded Noah to bring the birds into the ark by sevens. These numbers of birds were required so that seedlings could be planted all over the earth after the Flood. Genesis 7:4-5 4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. 5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him. According to the Jewish Midrash, which is the commentary of the Hebrew Scriptures, the seven days prior to rainfall were the days of mourning for Methuselah. Methuselah died in the 120 th year when Noah completed the building of the ark. Next to Noah, Methuselah was the last of the faithful Sethites. The death of Methuselah and Noah s completion of the ark are the two events that must occur before judgment from God would begin. Whether or not the seven days were days of mourning for Methuselah, it is not unreasonable to expect that Noah needed a week to bring all the animals and birds into the ark. Next, we notice the forty days and forty nights of rain. The number 40 holds special significance in the Bible. This is the number associated with trials, testing, judgment, and purification. Moses spent forty days and forty nights with God on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18; Deuteronomy 9:25). The twelve Hebrew spies went into Canaan and searched the land for forty days (Numbers 13:25). When Israel accepted the majority report of the spies about Canaan, God sent them all into the wilderness for forty years because of their unbelief (Numbers 14:33; 32:13). Forty was also the number of days and nights that the prophet Elijah took to travel to Mount Horeb or Sinai (1 Kings 19:8). Our Lord Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights (Matthew 4:2). After His resurrection, Christ remained on earth to be with His disciples for forty days before His ascension to Heaven (Acts 1:3). Here in Genesis 7, God judged the earth with forty days and forty nights of unceasing rain and water from the deep. Genesis 7: And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. 7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, 9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. During the seven days before the Flood, we can imagine the unbelievers gathering around the ark to watch Noah and his family marshalling the animals into the vessel. They would be mocking and heaping ridicule on Noah as they had done for 120 years. What kind

4 4 of boat is this crazy man building? The ark looked more like a coffin than a ship! But this week was their final opportunity, the last time for them to jeer and heap scorn on him. Noah had preached to them for 120 years, but none of them believed. The lower creatures entered the ark of safety, but the unbelievers thought themselves to be more intelligent. They stood outside because of their pride and rebellion against God. Sin always makes people stupid! Unlike the animals that followed God s command, the unbelievers proved that they were more stupid than the lower creatures. God never has a problem with animals; God s problem is with sinful humanity. In Isaiah 1, the prophet made the same point. Isaiah 1:1-5 1 THE vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. In Isaiah 1:3 God said that the ox knows its owner. Animals obey their Creator s command, but not many human creatures do so! Man glorifies himself as intelligent, educated and sophisticated, and in his pride he thinks that he knows himself better than God knows him. How can that be? Can the creature know more than the Creator? Through the prophet Isaiah, God declared that the animals are more sensible than sinful humanity. II. Flooding the Earth. Genesis 7: In the six hundredth year of Noah s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Over a period of forty days and forty nights, torrential rain fell from the skies, and water gushed out from subterranean fountains. The force of the tremendous volume of water was far greater than those of the 2001 and 2011 tsunamis that swarmed the countries around the Indian Ocean and Japan, when buildings were destroyed and even sea-going vessels were swept kilometres inland. The Genesis Flood was a thousand times more destructive. Genesis 7: In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; 14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. 16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. God kept the door of the ark opened until the last minute, but there came a time when the door had to be shut. Notice the two names used for God in Genesis 7:16: one is God,

5 5 which is Elohim, the God of creation; and the other is LORD, which is Yahweh, the covenant God. As Elohim, God the Creator gives the breath of life to all His creatures. Without God, there is no life, and we have no life. God the Creator commanded the animals, and they obeyed Him. God commanded Noah, and the faithful believer obeyed. But then we read that the LORD shut him in. Yahweh or Jehovah God is keeping His promise to save Noah and his family from the Flood of His righteous judgment. In the first part of Genesis 7:16 God or Elohim is preserving His animals. In the second part of the verse, the LORD who is Jehovah God is preserving His people. The LORD shut the single, heavy pitch-covered door behind Noah and his family. Shutting the door to save Noah and his family is the act of God. The point is that salvation for sinners is entirely by the grace of God, and not by human merit and effort. We note in Genesis 6:18 that God chose Noah and his family before work began on the ark. Noah did not build the ark according to his own plan, and he did not shut the door behind him for his own salvation; it was all by the LORD s doing and decree! Salvation for sinners is still through a door. In John 10, the Lord Jesus said John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The Lord Jesus described Himself as the door because He is the way of salvation. There is no other door, no other entrance for sinners to be saved, but it is through faith in Christ as the personal Saviour. In Revelation 3 the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed as the One who holds the key to the door of salvation. Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; The shutting of the door also illustrates the perfect security of believers in Christ. The Flood would rage outside the ark, but those whom Yahweh sealed inside the ark are safe from all alarms. God shut them in; He does not entrust the security of His people to others. Believers in Christ are sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). In John 10:28-30 the Lord Jesus said that His people are safe in His hands and also in the hands of the Father. In Christ, the eternity of believers is perfectly and eternally secure! We continue reading in Genesis 7: And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. 18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. The mountains were submerged to a depth of 15 cubits, a depth sufficient to keep the ark from grounding.

6 6 There is no surprise that the Flood has generated much interest and discussion, but questions about the Flood are mostly about its extent. Was this Flood a local one, or was it global? Was it limited, or universal? Those who disagree with a global flood cannot believe that so much water inundated the entire planet. Where did all the water come from? Instead of accepting the text of revealed Scripture, they suggest that this was a local flood that affected only the Mesopotamian valley. They state that the Flood must be understood phenomenally, which means that the Flood appeared to be universal to Noah and those who went through it, but in reality it was just a localized flood that covered one area. However, a person reading Genesis 6-9 for the first time would conclude that the Flood was a global one. Read some of the verses. In Genesis 7:19, all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven were covered. In Genesis 6:17 God told Noah that He would unleash a flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. Then in Genesis 7:4 God again told Noah that every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. These statements from God clearly point to a global flood, not to a local one. In the next few verses, the worldwide extent of the Flood is again emphasized. Genesis 7: And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. Let me give five reasons why the Bible is describing a worldwide Flood. First, the size of the ark would be absurd if the Flood were local. Why build such a large vessel if the only place to be flooded was the Mesopotamian valley? If the Flood only covered the region of the Mesopotamian valley, God would have commanded Noah and his family to seek safety on higher ground, just as He later warned Lot and his family to get out of Sodom. All the animals would have fled to safety, and all the birds would have flown away. Noah would not need to gather the animals and birds. Then of course, people who lived in other parts of the world would be spared. Secondly, God promised never again to destroy the earth by a Flood (Genesis 8:21-22; 9:11-15). God gave the rainbow as the universal sign of His promise. But if the Flood were local, why would people who lived away from Mesopotamia be given the sign of the rainbow? If the Flood was a local catastrophe, then God didn t keep His promise because there have been many floods throughout history that caused great damage and the loss of many lives. Third, we read in later chapters (Genesis 9:18-10:32) that all the peoples of the earth are traced to Noah and his three sons. Why not to Adam? People are traced to Noah and his three sons because God restarted with them. Being traced to Noah means that everyone else perished in the Flood.

7 7 Fourth, many Bible verses describe the Flood as a universal one (Job 22:15-16; Psalm 104:5-9; Isaiah 54:9; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5; 3:5-6). The Lord Jesus also spoke about the Flood as a universal one (Matthew 24:37-39). The fifth reason is flood traditions. There are literally hundreds of people-groups around the world with their own legends and accounts of a flood. The most well-known flood legend is from the ancient Babylonians. Of the more than 200 cultures that have a flood legend, there is agreement about the following features. 88% described a favoured family. 70% recorded their survival in a boat. 95% attributed the sole cause of the catastrophe as a flood. 66% stated that the disaster was due to man s wickedness. 67% mentioned that animals were saved. 57% said that the survivors ended up on a mountain. (James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, p ). How do we explain all these flood traditions? People everywhere have traditions about the Flood, and there are similarities in all these accounts and legends because the entire human race descended from Noah and his sons. Genesis 7:24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. The Flood covered the whole earth for a period of some five months. Now, some have wondered about the survival of the animals for such a lengthy period. How did they survive? It is possible that God put the animals into hibernation for the duration of the Flood. Bears in the northern United States and Canada hibernate as long as eight months without moving from their den. The American black bear can go 100 days without waking up! God would have no problem inducing all the animals in the ark to hibernate for the duration of the Flood. Conclusion The world is again on the brink of judgment from God. As it was with the Flood that destroyed the earth, God s coming judgment is universal. All of us would either be destroyed or delivered from the wrath of God to come. We are all sinners against God, and God will judge every person whose sins He has not forgiven. Preachers of the Gospel are sometimes accused of scare-mongering, just as we are sure that Noah was accused. The preacher of righteousness warned the world that judgment was at hand. Noah preached for 120 years, but none believed. However, the promises of God are not determined by popular opinion. Only eight people believed. God said it, and it shall be done. There is something we can be sure about: when God shut the door of the ark, there were no unbelievers. When the Flood came everyone believed, but other than those inside the ark, the rest of the world perished. It was too late for them. Friend, the Bible warns us about hell, and we can argue all we want against it. We can reject and try to prove that hell does not exist, but one day all arguments will end. When faith turns to sight, everyone will see; but for many, it will be too late because seeing and believing after the fact is not faith. Friend, today is the day of salvation. God does not promise that tomorrow He will still invite sinners to be saved. Tomorrow He may shut the door of salvation, and then it will be too late. Are your sins forgiven? God forgives sinners through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the ark of safety had only one door, Christ is the only door for sinners to be saved. A

8 8 sinner cannot get into the ark of salvation through personal effort or merit because salvation is by the grace of God. Christ is the door and He holds the key of salvation. Do not wait. Come now to Christ and enter the door of salvation through faith in Him as your personal Saviour. Come now before it is too late. Come now to Christ and be saved from your sins! Permission: We share our materials with you as a blessing from the ministry of our church. You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Amazing Grace Baptist Church. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: Copyright: Amazing Grace Baptist Church Singapore. Website: Used by permission as granted on website.